Process for treating sewage



Patented June 14, 1938 UNITED STATES A2&204534 ATENT" OFFICE PROCESS F012. TREKKING SEWAGE Ralph A. Stevenson, Palo Alto, Calif., assigner to Great yWestern Electro-Chemical Co.,

San

IFrancisco, Calif., a corporation oi* California Application January 11, 1933, Serial No. 651,074 4 claims. (i. 21o-2) coming sewage are more quickly reduced, the efilciency of the first settling stage is much increased, and the sludge of the rst settling stage is rendered more susceptible to further treatment such as vacuum iiltration.

In the accompanying drawing the gure is a diagram or flow sheet showing the carrying out of the process.

Chemical sewage purification is not new, having been practiced quite extensively before the advent of the now familiar biological processes. Chemical purication as it was practiced in the early days was accomplished by adding a coagulant to raw sewage. Ferrous sulfate and lime was the usual coagulant. This treatment was successful in removing the suspended matter but was accompanied by serious disadvantages. One was that the eiiluent although clear would remain stable for only a very short time, soon becoming turbid and decidedly odorous. Another bad feature was that a tremendous volume of sludge was produced, and this usually increased the weight of dry solids to be disposed of by more than 100%. The poor stability and increased odor of the eiiiuent was probably due to the fact that the causticity produced by thelime put into solution an amount of organic matter that would decompose when the causticity was neul, tralized by adsorption of carbon dioxide from the air.

I have overcome these difculties by 1) using a ferrie salt, such as ferric chloride, ferric sulphate, or chlorinated copperas as the coagulant, instead of lime and ferrous sulphate, (2) by applying the coagulant in a more eiiicient manner- Other advantages of sludge treated sewage. permitting it to settle, drawing off the resulting combined sludge and running the supernatant liquid sewage or eiiluent into the ferric chloride treatment first mentioned, followed by settling of this ferric chloride treated, or ferric hydroxide sludge for continuous re-use as stated. The eiiiuent from the second settling basin after the ferrie chloride treatment is run to waste or treated further as may be required. 10

In the diagram the stages `4of treatment bear descriptive legends and the iiow is indicated.

The overflow from basin No. 1, indicated by 6 in the diagram, is run over through line 22 to a mixing mixer 1 fitted with a suitable agitator such as the paddles 8 while a solution of ferric chloride (in practice of about concentration) is steadily introduced through line 9 in amount equal tmabout a grain of ferrie chloride to the gallon of liquid being treated. From mixer 1 the liquid is run through line I0 to a second mixer II where the fioc is built up by the slowly moving paddles I2. The precise amount of FeCls or other ferric salt used for best results will of course depend on the condition of the sewage being treated. The mixing paddles 8 and- I2 are preferably of a surface area equal to a quarter the area of a cross section of the mixing tank and a speed of about 10 R. P. M. in the first mixer 'I and about 3 R. P. M. in the second mixer II has been found satisfactory as I have discovered it is necessary for the paddles to travel slowly to build lup a heavy fioc, and that a. high speed will act oppositely and tend to disintegrate' and lighten.the floc. 35

The ferrie chloride reacts with' the colloidal and suspended matter forming a flocculent precipitate of ferrc hydroxide, and this mixed or coagulated sewage from mixer Il is run over through line I3 into a succeeding settling stage or basin No. 2, indicated by numeral I4, where the settled mass consisting of sludge containing a relative large percentage of ferric hydroxide (generally from to 80% of its solids) resulting from the ferrie chloride treatment, is drawn from the V,bottom of this basin and forced along a pipe I6 to a third mixing tank I1, preferably to enter with the incoming or raw sewage from pipe I8. ,Paddles I9 in mixing tankll eiect a mixing of thef'raw sewage with the ferric hydroxide carrying sludge from basin I4. The mixed mass is drawn out through pipe 20 and run into the settling tanks provided by basin No. 1, from the sump of which the settled combined sludge is drawn out through pipe 2| and conveyed to a filter or any further treatment desired. The partially treated overlying liquid in basin No. 1 is the liquid or settled sewage passed through line 22 to mixer 'l to receive the first addition of ferrie chloride as above described.

v The eiiiuent from basin No. 2 is, as stated, either passed to waste or run over to any further treatment such as chlorination as indicated through line 2l. The treatment results in an over-all reduction of about 85% suspended solids and about 75% of B. O. D., and the eiiiuent is quite No. 1 thereby making possible the minimum use of ferrie chloride in the process, as well as im-Y parting to the sludge in basin No. 1 a character which makes it much easier to handle in subsequent treatment, especially vacuum illtration. The process may of course be a continuous one, the necessary pumping and handling equipment, sludge concentrators and Scrapers in the basins, etc. being well understood and therefore not shown in the diagram.

From the above description it will be seen that any ferrie salt which will form a ferrie hydroxide sludge may be used in the process.

'I'he return of the treated sludge and mixin with the raw sewage in mixer d enables the ferrie hydroxide to react with constituents in the sewage which would otherwise use up coagulant. This reduces the ,quantity of coagulant required. In basin No. 1 the dilution of the sewage is increased as sludge is removedv through pipe 0" so that the concentration of water soluble materials in the remaining sludge, decomposition products usually Vof Van ammonical nature, is reduced by the elutriation effected. 'I'he net result is a lower coagulant requirement for successful practice of the process while the sludge resulting can be readily dewatered by ltration.

In general practice the capacities of the basins and flow is regulated so as to insure from 1 to 3 hour retention period in each settling stage, and it will be evident that any number of basins, as well as preliminary settling stages may be used, and variations of the process may be introduced as well as additional chemical agents, without departing from the spirit of the invention or its generalmode of operation.

This application is in part a continuation of my application Serial No. 552,290 iiled July 21, 1931, formerly Patent No. 1,946,818 of February 13, 1934, now application Serial No. 33,867 of July 30, 1935.

I therefore claim:-

1. A sewage treatment for raw sewage containing constituents capable of reacting with Fe(OH) a consisting of the continuously practiced steps of subjecting an incoming stream of said sewage to sedimentation to settle a sludge therefrom and provide a partially claried eilluent, intimately incorporating a water soluble ferric salt coagulant in said eiiiuent, slowly and gently stirring said coagulant containing eiiluent to build up a heavy and fast settling iloc substantially free of entrained air therein and convert said ferric salt substantially to ferrie hydroxide while avoiding settling of -said iloc, subjecting said eiiiuent containing said heavy and substantially air free built-up iloc to sedimentation to settle a secondary sludge containing ferrie hydroxide therefrom and provide a substantially innocuous efiluent, removing said secondary sludge and intimately incorporating said secondary sludge in sewage, and removing from the first sedimentation step a mixed sludge.

2. A sewage treatment for raw sewage containing constituents capable of reacting with Fe(OH) s consisting of the continuously practiced steps of subjecting an incoming sewage stream to sedimentation to settle a sludge therefrom and provide a partially clarified eiiiuent, adding ferric chloride as a coagulant to said eiiiuent and intimately incorporating said ferrie chloride in said eilluent, slowly and gently stirring said coagulant containing emuent to build up a heavy and-fast .settling iloc substantially free of entrained air therein and convert said ferrie chloride substantially to ferrie hydroxide while avoiding settling of said doc, then subjecting said effluent containing said heavy and substantially air free built-up iloc to sedimentation to settle a secondary sludge containing ferrie hydroxide therefrom and provide a substantially innocuous eiiiuent, removing said secondary sludge and intimately incorporating said secondary sludge in said incoming raw sewage stream to react said ferric hydroxide in said secondary sludge with said raw sewage, and removing from the first sedimentation step a mixed sludge.

3. A sewage treatment for raw sewage containing ,constituents capable of reacting with Fe(OH)a consisting of the continuously practiced steps of subjecting an incoming stream of said sewage to sedimentation to settle a sludge therefrom and provide a partially claried eiliuent, intimately incorporating a water soluble ferric salt coagulant in said eilluent, slowly and gently stirvring said coagulant containing eiiiuent to build up a heavy and fast settling iloc substantially free of entrained air therein and convert said ferrie salt substantially to ferrie hydroxide while avoiding settling of said oc, subjecting said effluent containing said Aheavy and substantially air free built-up iloc to Asedimentation to settle a secondary sludge containing ferrie hydroxide therefrom and provide a substantially innocuous eiliuent, removing said secondary sludge and intimately incorporating said secondary sludge in said incoming sewage stream to react said ferric hydroxide in said secondary sludge with said raw sewage, removing from the first sedimentation step a mixed sludge, and illtering said mixed sludge.

4. A sewage treatment for raw sewage'consisting of the Acontinuously practiced steps'of subjecting an incoming stream of said sewage to sedimentation to settle a sludge therefrom and provide a partially claried eilluent. intimately incorporating a ferric compound in said eiliuent, slowly andgently stirring said ferrie compound containing eilluent to build up a heavy and fast settling iloc substantially free of entrained air therein while avoiding settling of said floc, subjecting said eflluent containing ,said heavy and substantially air free built-up iloc to sedimentation to settle a secondary sludge therefrom and provide a substantially innocuous eiiiuent, removing said secondary sludge and intimately incorporating said secondary sludge in said incoming ysewage stream, and removing from the ilrst sedimentation step a mixed sludge.

` RALPH A. STEVENSON.

CERTIFICATE CE CORRECTION. 5

Patent No. 2,120,65LI. A June 1LT, 1958.

RALPH A. CSTEVENSCT'I.v

It is'hereby certified that error appears in the printed specification of the above numbered patent requiring correction as follows: Page 2, first v Column,`1ine 65s and second column, lines 1l, 55 and 5T-58, claims l, 2, and respectively, for the words "consisting of" read including; same page, first column, line 68, and second column, lines l5, LTO and 62, claims l, 2, andh. respectively, for said" read the; samev page, first column, line 68, end second column, lines 1'?, LLO and 65, claims l, 2, 5 and LI re'- spectively, before "slowly" insert the word then;v same page 2, first column, line 75, and second. column, line )45, claims land respectively, before "subjecting" insert then; line, claim )4., before the syllable "sub-J insert then; and that the said Letters Patent should be read with'this correCENI-I that the same may conform to the record of the case in. the Patent Office@ I y Signed and. seale 7ths 26th. day of July, A@ D., 1958.

Henry Van Arsdale5 Acting Commissioner of Patents- 

